Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise again the issue of the housing crisis, the crisis that our President has described as a disaster. Yesterday's Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, report has confirmed yet again the scale of failure over successive years to ensure that people have adequate homes and the right to a home. Since this Government assumed office, rents have increased by 15%, house prices have risen by 22% and homelessness has increased by 19%. There are outrageous numbers of individuals and families on the homeless list. There are over 3,000 children, 1,366 families and over 5,000 single people on the list. There is an unacceptable level of homelessness and poverty in Ireland, a relatively wealthy country in the EU, in 2022. The ESRI has confirmed to us that an impending crisis for older people renting is also facing us. Renters can barely cover the cost of rent, let alone save up to buy a home or save up for retirement. While the Government's current strategy is predicated on an assumption that rental is short-term and that people will somehow morph into homeowners by the time they retire, we know that can no longer be assumed. We know that failures to deliver on housing and housing supply now means that many people will be renting into older age and will be continuing to pay unaffordable rents. Indeed, in my own constituency and that of the Minister, Dublin Bay South, there is a much higher level of households in the private rental sector than in other constituencies across the country. It is a particular issue there, with over 40% of households in the Dublin Bay South constituency renting. I am receiving, as I am sure the Minister is, more and more communications from older people who can no longer afford their rents, who are facing eviction, or who simply cannot find a place, let alone an affordable place to rent.

We have called for a radical shift in housing policy, for budget 2023 to deliver a drastic ramping-up of the building of social, affordable and cost-rental homes. We, and my colleague, Senator Moynihan, our housing spokesperson, have called for the Government to bring vacant homes back into use with a vacant property tax. Such a tax rate must also be accompanied by resources and proper enforcement measures. We need to see an increase in the percentage of Part V units for social and affordable housing. We have consistently called for a three-year rent freeze in order to see a reduction in evictions. That must be introduced. Targeted supports must also be provided for communities particularly at risk of homelessness. There must be an end to speculation and land hoarding. We need to see a referendum on the right to housing, something we have called for consistently. I ask the Minister to push, at Government level, to ensure that there is a radical shift in housing policy towards seeing a home as a right and towards delivering on a policy of reducing and eliminating homelessness in Ireland. Will the Minister push for that in budget 2023? It is an urgent issue for many households and families.

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